Owl swooped in

this morning & got one of my girls. At least I'm pretty sure it was the owl. They were already out in the yard for the morning. We have had ZERO predator issues & I guess I got too comfortable. It got one of my young 12 week old BSL babies. IM sad.. Ive hand raised them.

Owl predation will continue to increase now that young birds are starting to hunt for themselves and alternative prey in some localities are becoming increasingly hard to catch because of maturing vegetative cover. Releasing chickens later in day will help control early morning losses to owls. Watch for flipside where owl might start coming in at dusk. Knowing owl species would be nice because barred owl is a bit easier to thwart.

IM not positive what this one was but he was HUGE. We saw him hanging out in the yard about 6:30-7am & he was just chilling out....
I believe he had already gotten my girl at that time . Her head was removed & some of her breast was gone. The rest was lying in some tall grass next to the fence line. That's why we didn't see her til late. I noticed my older girls only gave two eggs so i was searching the yard to see if they'd laid outside of the box when I found her. I could cry..

Sorry about you losing one of your girls. I don't know if you want to try this but it works. Set a tall tall post set a standard animal trap on top of it . The type trappers use to catch raccoons ,opossums etc. Put trap on top of post that old owl will eventually land their. Works best if put near chickens. No more owl or hawk. Doesn't sound pleasant but works. :-(.

Sorry about you losing one of your girls. I don't know if you want to try this but it works. Set a tall tall post set a standard animal trap on top of it . The type trappers use to catch raccoons ,opossums etc. Put trap on top of post that old owl will eventually land their. Works best if put near chickens. No more owl or hawk. Doesn't sound pleasant but works. :-(.

luckily in Oklahoma its legal to kill them if they're in the act of destroying domestic birds or fowl

Citation: OK ST T. 29 § 5-410

Citation: 29 Okl. St. Ann. § 5-410

Last Checked by Web Center Staff: 02/2013

Summary:
Oklahoma law prohibits the knowing and willful killing or molestation of hawks, falcons, owls, or eagles, or their nests, eggs, or young. The only exceptions to this prohibition are the taking of a hawk or owl in the act of destroying domestic birds or fowl, or the use of hawks, owls, falcons, or eagles by licensed falconers.

Statute in Full:
A. Except as otherwise provided, no person may knowingly and willfully, by means of any device, molest, injure or kill any species of hawk, falcon, owl or eagle, their nests, eggs or young.
B. Birds exempt from this provision are:

1. Any species of hawk or owl in the act of destroying domestic birds or fowl;​

2. Any species of hawk, falcon, owl or eagle, except those species prohibited by federal law, when taken by a licensed falconer for use in the practice of falconry, as provided in Section 29-5-206[29-5-206] of this Code.​